Having attended a whirlwind four tradeshows in six weeks I have never been more excited about the future of VoIP -- It's VoIP 2.0. The market is growing so quickly and there are dozens of new product categories and paradigms popping up all the time. Disruptive technologies like VoIP allow markets to go in new directions that aren’t always obvious. I am excited like never before about TMC conferences in general.

Conferees tell me TMC has the best conference offering show after show. In fact I heard this ten times in the last week. Everyone is stopping me and telling me how they look forward to future TMC events.

We took a big chance with this last ITEXPO in Miami. We offered a refund on our conference (Details are on www.itexpo.com site). This is the first time we ever did something like this and we didn’t know what to expect. Out of hundreds and hundreds of conferees that attended the show, we didn’t have a single person apply for the refund. Not one! Hats off to my speakers and the TMC team for pulling off what was a great conference by all accounts.

As I write this I am preparing for The Huge ITEXPO in LA, October 24-27, 2005. If you think Miami was good -- the industry can't stop talking about it... Wait till you see what we do in LA. It will be spectacular!

Don't forget that in the mean time, Speech-World and IP-Contact Center Summit are around the corner and will take place this May 24-26, 2005 in Dallas. I can't wait for this event. It is our FIRST speech show and so far the attendees are the top names you would want to attract to such conference. We have huge call centers, service providers and OEMs signing up in good numbers.

VoIP Developer is August 2-3, 2005 and was launched it to fill a void. There was a desperate need for an event focused exclusively on developers and partnering. Nothing else. Exhibitors begged me to do it and the last one we did in San Jose in 2004 was tremendous hit. We expect attendance to double to 1,000 this year and we expect the hall to double and sell out again!

If you are in the industry you need to get a hold of Dave Rodriguez asap if you want to submit an abstract to speak (for VoIP Developer or ITEXPO). I predict we will get around 1,500-2,500 responses to the call for papers for our events this year (Speech-World is already filled with speakers). Remember that we want speakers that are non-commercial. You should speak at a TMC event if you are passionate about educating an audience. Please don’t put your logo on you slides. Please don't plug your company. You are there to educate. You can send conferees in your session to the exhibit hall if you want to sell something. If you educate them objectively, they will be more likely to consider purchasing from you. I know from decades of experiences in running telecom conferences that commercialism only serves to upset an audience. It decreases the likelihood of purchasing from your company.

Having attended a whirlwind four tradeshows in six weeks I have never been more excited about the future of VoIP -- It's VoIP 2.0. The market is growing so quickly and there are dozens of new product categories and paradigms popping up all the time. Disruptive technologies like VoIP allow markets to go in new directions that aren’t always obvious. I am excited like never before about TMC conferences in general.

Conferees tell me TMC has the best conference offering show after show. In fact I heard this ten times in the last week. Everyone is stopping me and telling me how they look forward to future TMC events.

We took a big chance with this last ITEXPO in Miami. We offered a refund on our conference (Details are on www.itexpo.com site). This is the first time we ever did something like this and we didn’t know what to expect. Out of hundreds and hundreds of conferees that attended the show, we didn’t have a single person apply for the refund. Not one! Hats off to my speakers and the TMC team for pulling off what was a great conference by all accounts.

As I write this I am preparing for The Huge ITEXPO in LA, October 24-27, 2005. If you think Miami was good -- the industry can't stop talking about it... Wait till you see what we do in LA. It will be spectacular!

Don't forget that in the mean time, Speech-World and IP-Contact Center Summit are around the corner and will take place this May 24-26, 2005 in Dallas. I can't wait for this event. It is our FIRST speech show and so far the attendees are the top names you would want to attract to such conference. We have huge call centers, service providers and OEMs signing up in good numbers.

VoIP Developer is August 2-3, 2005 and was launched it to fill a void. There was a desperate need for an event focused exclusively on developers and partnering. Nothing else. Exhibitors begged me to do it and the last one we did in San Jose in 2004 was tremendous hit. We expect attendance to double to 1,000 this year and we expect the hall to double and sell out again!

If you are in the industry you need to get a hold of Dave Rodriguez asap if you want to submit an abstract to speak (for VoIP Developer or ITEXPO). I predict we will get around 1,500-2,500 responses to the call for papers for our events this year (Speech-World is already filled with speakers). Remember that we want speakers that are non-commercial. You should speak at a TMC event if you are passionate about educating an audience. Please don’t put your logo on you slides. Please don't plug your company. You are there to educate. You can send conferees in your session to the exhibit hall if you want to sell something. If you educate them objectively, they will be more likely to consider purchasing from you. I know from decades of experiences in running telecom conferences that commercialism only serves to upset an audience. It decreases the likelihood of purchasing from your company.